Silent Supernova
by Nentone
Summary: It is months after the Downfall. And so the Shane Gang and a few co. do their various parts in clean up duty, going in depth to cleanse any lingering remnant throughout SlugTerra, foul or alike. However the latest discovery, which is encased beneath the bowels of an old, abandoned research facility centered somewhere in Nightmare Ridge forest, seems to test opinions.


**Disclaimer: Slugterra™ and all related concepts, characters and events are property of Asaph Fipke and Nerd Corps Entertainment ©. Original characters (OCs) and story elements are property of Nentone.**

Shout out to **Dragonfan47, **whose crossover stories of this particular category has inspired me to write. Somewhat.

**Warning: **My first attempt at a Winx Club and SlugTerra crossover— even if I hadn't watched the latter since who knows how long.

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><p>Chapter I<p>

"_Eli here. What's up, Tec?"_

"_We have a latest notification from Miss Zia. I am sending you the coordinates. You will be meeting us at the Seventh Fork. Alone."_

"_Wait, Nightmare Ridge?"_

Pause.

"_There is something Miss Zia says you need to see."_

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><p><strong>Two hours later ...<strong>

Coughing, Zia _'Don't call me Half-Mad'_ Turg(1) slowly sat up from a puddle of water tingling wet sticky chills down her spine. _Ugh. _She shivered. _Note to oneself: Portal-jumping— a big no-no._

Blinded by darkness, she found herself breathing moulded decay as her slugs _erped _and _yipped_. She _shh_'d them so she could listen. Noisy little yappers.

— and did water always have to drip on her hair!

So Zia began feeling through her belt pouch. _Had to be here somewh— Oh, there it was. _In a click, her torchlight was illuminating the tunnel she now found herself. Walls as bricked as a sewer, damp, slimy too, roots poking here and overhanging there.

She grinned. Exactly as planned. Her boss-lady never ceased to amaze her sometimes.

_Just one more thing though._ She tried her wristcom contacting Eli Shane. _Beep. Beep. _It blinked yellow. No such luck. Or maybe signal from down here was too weak. Well, damn.

Seeing nothing but a dead-end behind her, Zia focused her torch onward and led herself into another tunnel. A meandering one. Still dark both ways. Then she proceeded left. Rather dull wet thuds on concrete, her boots clicked small _clink-clank-clinks _onto the rusted grate floor— and beneath, the slosh of rushing water.

Just then a flashing glint caught her attention. She looked. Gas pipes embedded along an exposed section of a wall, which was enclosed in mesh wire. Definitely had to lead somewhere— like somewhere like the hydroelectric generator, where she'd finally be able to restore power to the main facility. Zia grinned. Predictable. So much each time and time again it was now beginning to look like an idiot's guide to navigating abandoned research labs.

_Scree!_

Zia jumped, hand going for her loaded _ThunderCracker._ She _shh'_d her panicking slugs— _again—_ then glanced both ways whilst gripping blaster on her other hand. Long, black shadows haunted the corner of her eye. Slow cautious steps carried her on: Past an airlock elevator to the right— her way out of here, then steel-frame double doors the left— no doubt storage room, and then looking ahead— a single door. She could also see the high-voltage notice.

_Scree!_

There it was again. Whirling, Zia aimed. Everything seemed to mute. The only sound— her somewhat steady breathing, loud as her pumping heart.

All of sudden something dropped from the sewer-like ceiling, her ThunderCracker tracking— oh, it was just a rat. A big one at that. One of its legs bleeding as it scurried from her circle of light into the blackness. Must have slashed itself real deep.

But who was Zia to bother. She allowed herself a sigh of relief and wiped her sweaty brow. Almost lost her cool for a moment there. But heck, who knew what else was lurking down here?

So kicking the door to the power room open, Zia darted blaster-first. Checking left. Then right. All clear.

Into the dark room, her torch beam illuminated tubing of pipes along the walls like metallic vines, a duo of bulk gas tanks fenced in a corner, and a control panel at the opposite. As she headed for that, she could hear the muffled roar of a waterfall somewhere close in the background. Could smell it. Taste it.

_And let there be light. _Her hand cranked the lever of the power unit. It held stiff. _Why you little— _Teeth bared, she tried again. Lights came on, blinding her vision for a moment.

In another, she attempted use of her wristcom once more. Red? Damn, now something was jamming her signal this time.

As the control panel hummed to holographic life, Zia got to small work— a few taps here, a small tuning there and in a minute, the elevator would come online.

_Eli. T._ She had a grin as she backtracked her way out. _It's good luck to you now._

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><p>Wristcom signal was jammed. No matter the frequency, no matter the tuning, nothing got through.<p>

So here was Eli Shane— he and Tecna navigating their way through the blackness of this cold dead facility, their lone light Burpy.

Just then the lights flickered on. One by one.

Breath hitched, Eli halted and readied his blaster, eyes scanning along the fluorescent-lit white-walled corridor for trouble. Seeing none he nodded to Burpy. The Infurnus doused his flame.

"Odd," Tecna said, toneless as the very walls(2). "I hadn't expected anyone around."

"Probably Zia's handwork … wherever she is." Eli glimpsed a notice on the wall. Third level. "Say, how close are we?"

The cybergoth wiped her denim shorts of some imaginary stain then held her PDA. Blue-tinted holographics sprang to life— a virtual blueprint of the underground research facility. "Close."

"Good to know." Or what else could he say after an hour of navigating through this labyrinth? A small adjustment to his backpack, blaster tucked in holster, and he resumed his pace alongside Tecna.

In a matter of minutes, they soon came upon a scattered cafeteria with a single, wide yet shattered hexagonal window showing a panoramic view of Nightmare Ridge forest and its mist-cloaked depths far below.

Curious, he approached said window, broken glass cracking underboot.

"Master Shane?" Tecna's voice held a hint of urgency and impatience.

So this facility seemed not only built deep underground but into a cliff as well. Even if Eli's eyes couldn't see any, he could hear the not-so-distant echoing roar of a waterfall, could smell its freshness wafting through the downstream breeze. And then there was this little pungent stench intermingled— his nose twitched— familiar …

"Ah," Tecna sidled to his side, catching on. "I may have forgotten mentioning the proximity between this facility drainage system and Stinkhole swamp."

Eli exchanged a blank look with Burpy. "Convenient," was all he said, sarcastic. No wonder it stank less now than then. But then a thought occurred to him. "You know, now that I think of it, for such a place this huge, this task would have gone a lot easier if the gang were with us just like other times." Or why else would Zia call him alone? Ever since Tecna's call Eli had had his suspicions on the Turg, for now.

No reply. Tecna merely turned her back on him, facing the elevator airlock at the other end.

Yet he pressed on, "But there's more to this, isn't there?"

"I suggest we focus on the task at hand, Master Shane," at which Eli twitched slightly. "The sooner we access the central hub, lift the radio jammer and contact Miss Zia, all the better."

"Did she put you with this?"

"No," replied the cybergoth in a way that made Eli say, "Then help me here, Tec. You tag along with Zia on most of our missions— and _hers _from time to time. What's she up to this time?"

Now Tecna looked over her shoulder, blank-faced. "Like I said once upon a time, and will always, Master Shane," she said tilting her head so he could see the center of her pupils. "I … am nothing but a neutral party."

Eli could only lift his hands in surrender. Okay … so Tecna wasn't involved.

The further they went, the more the facility looked aged, disarrayed, overgrown of vines and plant life.

Turning a corner, Eli and Tecna began breezing their way through another maze of corridors and airlock doors (even resorting to blow a malfunctioning one open with grenuke)— fourth level, fifth, sixth— past cluttered office spaces, disused maintenance areas and cells of clinically white 'test chambers'.

_All devoid of life_, Eli thought as he skipped several stray slithering vines. "What had happened here?"

"I'm afraid it goes beyond just that." A mere casual flick of Tecna's bionic leg sent a stray large crate crashing to the side. Not surprising for Eli. "Information I have gleaned so far has been quite … vague." Pause. "Years ago, before Will Shane's eventual disappearance, Dr. Blakk's goals had crossed with those of another, in a way," her PDA flickered a holographic portrait of a man— pale, blond hair and calculating grey eyes, "Dr. Viktor Valtor(3)."

"Valtor?" Eli tested the name on his lips as Burpy harrumphed. "Strange name for an even stranger man."

"Indeed." Valtor's image faded as they proceeded past a chain of lifeless laboratories. "His intelligence may rival that of Blakk's. However Valtor's field of study of both slug and human genetics proves vastly … exceptional."

"And lemme guess: they had some sort of partnership … in a way."

She merely gestured her head towards the viewing window of one of the laboratory chambers, bathed in an eerie green glow.

"To the center. Anything to note of those storage capsules?"

He blinked, once, twice, "I've never seen blasters … or armours of this kind before."

"What you see is an incomplete research— defensive measures of Blakk industries if certain circumstances spiral out of control. Such as the likes of the DarkBanes and of course, if things got _conflicting_, the Shadow Clan."

Lips parted, Eli's brows screwed together. He could understand some people's fear of the Shadow Clan. But to go so far …

"Like I said once," Tecna motioned for them to continue their way, "it goes beyond just that."

Through a light-flickering corridor, descending a flight of steps, and they found themselves within a dim-lit chamber, the airlock door hissing shut behind, echoing. Large as it was ominous.

"This is it," stated Tecna as Eli followed in her wake. "The central hub."

And not a moment too soon, he had his blaster drawn. Something about this place just didn't sit right with him.

The cybergoth moved towards the semi-circular mainframe hub, which looked operational for four people. She righted one of the swivel chairs, sat and plugged her PDA. The holographic hub booted to life— green-tinted grid of screens. "A shame that such a database is left in such conditions."

"Just don't drool the keyboard too much, Tecna."

Several keystrokes later. "Master Shane?"

"Something wrong?" He peered over her shoulder, Burpy now tugging at the collar of his jacket.

"I believe I may have located our secondary priority." She swiped at her PDA. "A hidden level beneath this very chamber."

All of a sudden Burpy let loose a loud _eek_!

And just then a large shadow loomed over them.

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><p><strong>Author's notes:<strong>

(1) Zia Turg is a freelance slugslinger, even if she affiliates herself with Life Systems otherwise (formerly known as Blakk Industries) on various sorts of missions. That is all I can say, for now.

Born of dead-end ideas gathering dust in a book, Zia is a supporting character I once planned for a Slugterra story or so. But she kinda snuck into this one, unfortunately. Though I must admit it's quite taxing to even create an OC as her, let alone build her. Even I have to admit Zia 'Don't call me Half-Mad' Turg (what an _interesting_ middle nickname) is kinda ridiculous— and ridiculous is what I aim for.

(2) Here in this crossover, I try depicting Tecna as she was in Winx Club season one_. _As well as altering a bit of her appearance— her bionic legs for instance. It is a challenge I know. But I believe I can break this.

So patience. The rest will come in due time.

(3) Dr. Viktor Valtor? Hmm, bet you weren't expecting that.

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><p>What are your thoughts?<p>

**Nentone, the Keyboard Assassin**


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